Chapter 03: Vasel Urban Warfare
Vasel Urban Warfare is the third Chapter of Valkyria Chronicles. The combat mission in this Chapter is called West Bank Of Vasel City. Story Irene Koller describes the invasion of Gallia, commanded by Maximilian; the map in the background shows the invasion of the North taking Ghirlandaio, Naggiar Plains, Marberry Shore and Fouzen, with a second arrow going through Bruhl and splitting into contingents headed through Barious to the South and towards Vasel to the North. Civilians are shown to be retreating through Vasel towards the capital, Randgriz. Irene goes on to describe Randgriz and introduce Castle Randgriz, seat of Cordelia Gi Randgriz, princess of Gallia. Particular attention is given to the "unicorn spire" of the castle. She further explains the system of universal conscription used by Gallia; all schools require military training of their students; in case of war, these trained reserves are formed into militia units to support the standing army. Welkin and Alicia enlist, and are drafted into the Gallian Militia. The perspective switches to Welkin looking around his room, seemingly a private room not part of the regular barracks; he changes into his uniform, running off the list of his equipment; flares, a compass, binoculars and a map. He's disturbed when Alicia calls by in her Scout's uniform; she worries she looks silly, and he attempts to reassure her by saying she looks like a Rhinoceros Beetle; she grudgingly accepts this as "a very Welkin sort of compliment." Welkin asks about her headscarf, and she explains it's part of her uniform at the bakery; she says she'll wear it until she can get back to manning the ovens again. The two then go to meet their captain, Eleanor Varrot, commander of Regiment 3. She promotes Welkin to Lieutenant, leader of Squad 7, and Alicia to Sergeant under his command. This scene also introduces Welkin's university friend, Faldio Landzaat; Welkin was studying science and Faldio archeology. Varrot instructs the three to look around the base and Randgriz; in R&D, Welkin finds Isara, who's enlisted as tank driver and mechanic, and is now responsible for the Edelweiss. Isara explains that she was just moving some Ragnite back to the tank; it's used as fuel and for cannon rounds. Welkin says he's more used to seeing it used in street lamps and as medicine; it's explained that it's rare, and that the Imperial invasion is largely to get at the Ragnite deposits on Gallian soil. Isara presents a flare gun to Welkin, saying it was "father's;" presumably Welkin's father rather than her own. Welkin accepts it, saying he still can't believe he's a tank commander. In the briefing later that day, Varrot explains that the Empire has just captured the Great Vasel Bridge, a key strategic drawbridge that spans the canal at Vasal, near the capital. The Militia's mission is to recapture the bridge. Georg von Damon, commander of the central forces and a General in Gallia's standing army, interrupts them, largely to talk down to the militia. Varrot takes the wind out of his sails when she points out that his army couldn't hold the bridge in the first place. Faldio is angered by the aristocratic General's dismissive attitude towards the militia, Varrot returning to the briefing, explaining the first part of the mission will be to capture the West bank of the river, currently in Imperial hands. Map Map shaped like an inverted "U" with an impassible midsection seperating two deployment points to the South. East path is a long road leading uphill to an open area ("Riverside Park") with a street going West towards the enemy base camp in the Northwest, near a building marked "City Hall." This is directly North of the West start point, down either of two alleys around a building marked "City Library." Listen closely! Since this Chapter introduces the Headquarters tab and Skirmishes, there are a lot of tutorial sections before the battle itself; these explain the various subsections of Headquarters and how to switch tabs, and the various soldier classes. In the mission itself, deploying and occupying camps is explained, and a popup message about Leader units appears when any enemy Leader is killed. Orders are explained at the start of turn 2, and ammunition and reloading by Engineers at the start of turn 3, though the top rank requires the mission to be finished in 1 turn. If anyone is knocked out, Medics will be explained. Strategy Since this Chapter includes the first trip to Headquarters, it's worth noting a few things there before the mission itself. Firstly, the player won't be allowed to exit the Command Room until they have chosen a full squad of twenty recruits. On the Training Field the drill instructor, Calvaro Rodriguez, will teach Welkin his first Order, Evasion Boost. Upgrade all the infantry equipment, and buy the body, gun and accuracy upgrades for the Edelweiss; this should be possible with the rewards given by the first three missions. Focus training on Scouts and Lancers; levelling everyone up to two, Lancers to 3 and Scouts to 4 should be possible after the first Skirmish. It should be fairly obvious that there's no possible way for the East team to reach the enemy flag in one turn, so the West team is going to have to do it. For this, deploy a good Shocktrooper on the Northwest spot, a good Scout behind them, and a Sniper on the Eastern spot. Don't bother with any other deployments. Getting all possible experience on this map in 9 CP on a first playthrough is impossible without a hail-Mary Lancer shot to take out the Northern Light Tank; the Light Tank parked North of the Library on this map also counts as an enemy Leader. The following solution requires a minimum amount of saving and reloading, but does not destroy either tank or kill the Northeast Shocktrooper Leader. First, control the Sniper; move towards the Shocktrooper to the Northeast, trying to keep the wall partly in his line of sight. The enemy AI often has trouble with interception fire if their vision is partly obstructed, and the Sniper should be able to get close enough that a hit is assured without being shot at. Move to where the Shocktrooper was and then as far North as possible before ending the turn. Control them again to kill the Scout Leader directly in front, moving forward along the East Wall until they can see the enemy tank and the two enemies by the flag; do not move them any further than this, or the Shocktrooper on the roof ahead will open fire on them. Save the game before attempting the next shot; the target is the Shocktrooper Leader by the flag. It might take a few tries before the headshot succeeds, but it's not that difficult a shot. End the Sniper's CP without moving, and save again. Now, time to get that enemy Ace. He's hiding in the grass to the side of the ramp ahead of the Edelweiss. Run Alicia along the East map edge to avoid interception fire, then, as soon as she spots Ty the Immortal in the grass, throw a grenade at him to force him to stand up. Duck in the grass quickly and end Alicia's CP before he can shoot her. Control Alicia again and immediately hit R1 to start targeting; Ty will probably severely damage her before the reticle appears, but she should survive. Target his head and hope he doesn't evade. End Alicia's turn. Control the Shocktrooper in the West base and run up the street to the North; there should be two enemies firing at them. Try to position the shocktrooper so they can target the far enemy's head through the enemy standing right in front of them; the burst from their machine gun is quite capable of killing both enemies in one volley. Regardless, you should have three CP left; use one to have the Shocktrooper kill the nearest thing you think might get in your Scout's way, then control the Scout. The Scout's job is to run North to the enemy flag and throw a grenade at the second Shocktrooper there in order to kill him; it should take one CP to get close enough to throw the grenade and one more to make it to the flag and occupy it. It's worth noting that if the mission is allowed to continue for two turns, the Leader Light Tank will drive straight through the library on enemy turn 2 and attack the West base directly. On a repeat playthrough, it's easy to get everything on this mission since Shocktroopers will now be able to deal with the Light Tanks. Rewards Before the mission, Skirmish 1 is made available when the additional tabs are unlocked. For the mission, Experience, Ducats, ZM MP 1(g) machine gun. This has high damage but low accuracy and range; at this stage, it can be useful if a low-level Shocktrooper is going to be attempting to take on a Light Tank's radiator. After beating this mission, the Personnel, Weaponry and Glossary tabs become available, and Castlefront Street and the War Cemetery become available at Headquarters. Aftermath The West side is recaptured, and with some time before the operation to re-take the bridge, Squad 7 are seen relaxing. Welkin and Alicia are disturbed by a war reporter who introduces herself as GBS Radio's top reporter, simply giving her name as "Ellet." She badgers Welkin for an interview, much to his bemusement. Meanwhile, Rosie and Largo are watching disapprovingly, the two veterans seeing Ellet interviewing Welkin as a sign of arrogance on his part. Largo in particular isn't impressed with the young man's lack of combat experience. Notes *This map is used again for Skirmish 2. *An easy way to ensure good recruits in this Chapter is to save at the end of the previous one; the recruit list seems to only be generated when the player actually goes to Headquarters. This means you need never fear a squad without Jann. *One of only a few maps in the entire game to feature an enemy Engineer. *The combat missions in this Chapter and the next were most likely inspired by the battle for Pegasus Bridge. Since military aircraft seemingly don't exist in the Valkyria Chronicles universe, the soldiers instead infiltrate by boat with the Edelweiss wading along the bottom of the river. *No, Leon Schmidt is never going to open his eyes. Category:Articles needing images Category:Valkyria Chronicles Category:Missions